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| CO, Major, among 5 brave hearts martyred, 2 LeT militants killed in Handwara encounter | | Their valour, sacrifice will never be forgotten: PM | |  S TAHIR-UL HAQ
EARLY TIMES REPORT
KUPWARA, May 3: Five brave hearts including a Colonel, Major, two soldiers of Indian Army and SI of JKP were martyred in a fierce encounter with Pakistani militants of LeT outfit in Chanjimulla village of Handwara area on Sunday.
A top rank official while sharing the details of this deadliest encounter with Early Times said that, on May 1 security forces had launched a massive search operation in Rajwar, Bhavan Watsar, and Wader forest area of Handwara town.
A joint team of security forces including 21 RR and SO, 92 CRPF had cordoned off a massive chunk of the forest area.
The operation was continued and they had fled towards another forest village of Chanjimulla in Handwara after which the operation was resumed again on Saturday morning, said official.
However army said that, “based on the intelligence input that Pakistani militants were taking the civilian inmates of a house in Changimulla, Handwara of Kupwara district hostage, a joint operation was launched by Army and JK Police.
A team comprising five Army and JK Police personnel entered the target area occupied by the terrorists to evacuate the civilians. The team of Army and JK Police entered the area and successfully extricated the civilians.
“However, during the process, the team was subjected to heavy volume of fire by the terrorists. In the ensuing fire fight, two terrorists were eliminated and the team of five army and JK personnel, comprising two Army officers, two Army soldiers and one JK Police Sub Inspector, attained martyrdom,” the official statement from the army said.
Colonel Ashutosh Sharma father of 12 year old daughter, the commanding officer of the 21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) units who lost his life in Handwara, was decorated twice for gallantry in counter-terrorist operations.
The five personnel had gone missing during an anti-militancy operation in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
In the meantime five security forces personnel had gone missing as contact has been lost with them, and the operation was under progress till late evening, and in this fierce encounter, one Commanding Offer, Col Ashutosh Sharma of 21 RR - 19 Guards, Major Anuj Sood, 21 RR - 19 Guards, Naik Rajesh, 21 RR - 3 Guards, Lance Naik Dinesh, 21 RR - 17 Guards, Sub Inspector namely Mohammad Sagier Qazi Pathan of J&K Police’s Special Operation Group of Trad Karnah attained martyrdom.
Two militants were killed including top Lashkar-e Toiba Commander; Haider from Pakistan was killed in an encounter, huge arms and ammunition including AK-47, ammunition, hand grenades, and other war like store was recovered from encounter site.
Sub Inspector Sageer Ahmad Pathan @ Qazi was appointed in 1999 as constable and volunteered for working in Police SOG.
The martyred police officer was honored with Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for gallantry in 2009, and police medal for gallantry by President of India in 2011 and DGP J&K Commendation Medal.
The whole operation was conducted under the supervision of Brig Rathore, DIG Police NKR Suleman Chodhary and District SP Sundeep Chakravarti.
The floral tributes were offered to these five brave hearts in DP Line Handwara, where IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar, DIG Suleman Chowdhary, SSP Baramulla, Abdul Qayoom, SP Handwara, Sundeep Chakarvarti and other top army and police level officials were present.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet said that, tributes to our courageous soldiers and security personnel martyred in Handwara. Their valor and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
They served the nation with outmost dedication and worked tirelessly to protect our citizens. Condolences to their families and friends, said PM in a tweet.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a tweet said that, I offer my tributes to the soldiers and security personnel who fell in action. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loves ones today. India stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of these brave martyrs.
In his another tweet he said that, the loss of our soldiers and security personnel in Handwara (J&K) is deeply disturbing and painful. They showed exemplary courage in their fight against the terrorists and made supreme sacrifice while serving the country. We will never forget their bravery and sacrifice.
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